The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Not my usual choice of genre at all but I loved this. Larsson has created an edgy post-modern feminist heroine in Lisbeth Salander. She lives by her own moral code and is a survivor in a patriarchal society where the extremist right has roots and tendrils into the highest places. His description of Sweden is evocative, the North a place of shadows and isolation. This book completely occupied...more

Not my usual choice of genre at all but I loved this. Larsson has created an edgy post-modern feminist heroine in Lisbeth Salander. She lives by her own moral code and is a survivor in a patriarchal society where the extremist right has roots and tendrils into the highest places. His description of Sweden is evocative, the North a place of shadows and isolation. This book completely occupied my thoughts and i devoured it in big hungry chunks. I am about to start the next one in the trilogy. If like me, you don't go for crime novels, I urge you to set aside any pre-conceptions and try this. The transalation is elegant and prosaic. Enjoy!   hide

Now here's a queer duck for a critical darling. The frequent parallels drawn between Larsson's work and Hoeg's Smilla's Sense of Snow are facile at best - being socially withdrawn and having Asperger's are hardly the same, and Hoeg never blunted the impact of his asocial narrator, whereas Stieg can't wait to segue into the POV of a thinly veiled MarySue of himself as a...more

Now here's a queer duck for a critical darling. The frequent parallels drawn between Larsson's work and Hoeg's Smilla's Sense of Snow are facile at best - being socially withdrawn and having Asperger's are hardly the same, and Hoeg never blunted the impact of his asocial narrator, whereas Stieg can't wait to segue into the POV of a thinly veiled MarySue of himself as a charming journalist-crusader. In fact, oddly, Girl in structure reminds me of nothing so much as Jane Eyre, hung awkwardly together as it is in three distinct sections. The mystery here's fairly obvious. Even more so if you know the original Swedish title translates literally to "Men Who Hate Women." What's more interesting are the specifics of Larsson's life, briefly explored in a closing note about the author, but probably more detailed in his depiction of himself as protagonist Blomkvist. A flawed, somewhat fascinating story that can't decide just what kind of crime novel it wants to be.   hide

I loved the characters and the mystery. Outstanding novel, a real page turner, so much detail that drives the plot, stories within stories, you think it's over and it isn't. High quality writing, a few blips in the translation, such as gaol rather than "jail", but I read a pre-publication copy, so it may have been fixed. I literally could not put it down No kidding. Loved the...more

I loved the characters and the mystery. Outstanding novel, a real page turner, so much detail that drives the plot, stories within stories, you think it's over and it isn't. High quality writing, a few blips in the translation, such as gaol rather than "jail", but I read a pre-publication copy, so it may have been fixed. I literally could not put it down No kidding. Loved the vividness, the characters the twists and okay it got a little carried away but it came back with surprises and a final kick.   hide

Nice thriller, but the author took too much time out of the book to provide unnecessary background that didn't really help with understanding the character. The mystery itself is very anti-climaxial, and doesn't appear to play as central a role as the book jacket would lead one to believe. As a warning to those like me with a low tolerance for violence and violent crimes, do not...more

Nice thriller, but the author took too much time out of the book to provide unnecessary background that didn't really help with understanding the character. The mystery itself is very anti-climaxial, and doesn't appear to play as central a role as the book jacket would lead one to believe. As a warning to those like me with a low tolerance for violence and violent crimes, do not read this if you cannot stomach really nasty things being described in very vivid detail.   hide

I really like reading books by foreign authors. I picked this one up because I have heard that it was good and it takes place in Sweden. I like reading books that take place in locations I have been to in Europe or places I would like to visit. This one takes quite a while to get going. About half way through the book things really begin to pick up. I have picked up the next book in this...more

I really like reading books by foreign authors. I picked this one up because I have heard that it was good and it takes place in Sweden. I like reading books that take place in locations I have been to in Europe or places I would like to visit. This one takes quite a while to get going. About half way through the book things really begin to pick up. I have picked up the next book in this trilogy and plan to see the Swedish films long before I see the "Americanized" movies they plan to make.   hide

"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" by Stieg Larsson is probably one of the better books that I have read this year. If you have a penchant for flawed characters, this book is riddled with them. Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander, the novel's two main characters, don't meet until more than half the book is over, but that doesn't diminish this book's impact. The bulk...more

"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" by Stieg Larsson is probably one of the better books that I have read this year. If you have a penchant for flawed characters, this book is riddled with them. Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander, the novel's two main characters, don't meet until more than half the book is over, but that doesn't diminish this book's impact. The bulk of the book consists of a re-imagining of the classic closed-door mystery. While the first fifty or so pages move at a leisurely pace, the novel soon advances rapidly, ending at a near meteoric pace until the climax. Be warned though, this novel is not for the faint of heart; there are some graphic scenes that could bother some readers. But overall, this is an enjoyable read, and I am eagerly awaiting the final two books in the Millennium Trilogy. Starts off a little slow, but stick with it and you won't be disappointed. Can be a little rough in some parts for some more squeamish readers, but is overall a good read. This book starts off a little slow, but stick with it and you won't regret it. A reimagining of the classic locked-room mystery, "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" is actually two mysteries in one. It's more of a story-within-a-story, like Shakespeare's play-within-a-play, "The Taming of the Shrew." There are a few disturbing bits that some more squeamish readers may not like, but overall, a very good story.   hide

Shorter than synopsis: Finance columnsit Mikael Blomkvist is "hired" by industrial magnate Henrik Vanger to investigate into the disappearance of his favorite grandniece who he strongly suspects was murdered around 40 years ago when she was 16. Mikael moves in to Hedestad, Sweden, to investigate under the guise of chronicling the Vangar family tree and history and eventually unearths a series...more

Shorter than synopsis: Finance columnsit Mikael Blomkvist is "hired" by industrial magnate Henrik Vanger to investigate into the disappearance of his favorite grandniece who he strongly suspects was murdered around 40 years ago when she was 16. Mikael moves in to Hedestad, Sweden, to investigate under the guise of chronicling the Vangar family tree and history and eventually unearths a series of ghastly and unimaginably sadistic crimes committed that threaten to crumble the family empire and reputation to pieces. He eventually hires Salander, an exceptionally gifted researcher twenty years his junior who is a most unlikely partner in his crusade. He is roughly handsome. She is a goth-inspired anorexic, with odd tattoos, with no friends and who trusts no one (till she met Blomkvist), and thinks nothing of squeezing the balls of her rapist and branding his belly with her own method of tattooing, or maiming a sadist with golf club to save her new friend's life. Why you must read: If you love crime and thriller novels, this one's great. Would be unfair to compare Stieg Larsson to Harlan Coben or Tess Gerritsen, but for a debut novel, this one's right in their league. Don't be surprised by the seeming lack of action in the first chapters of the book. It had to be done that way to create the stark contrast against the sudden fast pace the book takes when Mikael stumbles upon a clue in one of the hundreds of photographs that he and the police have repeatedly scrutinized. What to look forward to: One, that maybe Daniel Craig will play Mikael Blomkvist in the Hollywood film version of the book (there is a Swedish one with English subtitles), and two, that you finish the book real fast so that you can immediately start on the sequel, The Girl Who Played with Fire.   hide

4.5 starts only because I admit to skipping some of the ENTIRELY TOO detailed lineage. of course, that could be why I didn't see the end coming... honestly, I don't say that often about books. The other think I liked best about this book was the main character was just a man with convictions, no amazing super powers, just trust and conviction with a little bit of heart thrown in for good measure...more

4.5 starts only because I admit to skipping some of the ENTIRELY TOO detailed lineage. of course, that could be why I didn't see the end coming... honestly, I don't say that often about books. The other think I liked best about this book was the main character was just a man with convictions, no amazing super powers, just trust and conviction with a little bit of heart thrown in for good measure :-)   hide

è stata l’insistenza di mia sorella, per nulla amante del genere thriller, ma letteralmente catturata dal romanzo, a convincermi a leggere il primo episodio della millennium trilogy. in realtà il titolo affascinante mi aveva ripetutamente tentato, però quella fascetta posta lì, davanti alla copertina, che ne celebrava il successo in termini di numero di copie vendute ed edizioni stampate,...more

è stata l’insistenza di mia sorella, per nulla amante del genere thriller, ma letteralmente catturata dal romanzo, a convincermi a leggere il primo episodio della millennium trilogy. in realtà il titolo affascinante mi aveva ripetutamente tentato, però quella fascetta posta lì, davanti alla copertina, che ne celebrava il successo in termini di numero di copie vendute ed edizioni stampate, alla fine aveva sempre prevalso con il suo potere dissuasivo. il racconto si sviluppa su due percorsi distinti, la misteriosa scomparsa di una ragazza avvenuta oltre 30 anni prima e le indagini che il protagonista conduce nel mondo della finanza. mikael blomkvist, giornalista economico è l’anello di congiunzione tra le due storie. condannato ingiustamente per diffamazione in relazione ad un articolo pubblicato sulla rivista millennium, nel quale accusava di frodi economiche un celebre finanziere, viene reclutato da un ottuagenario ex grande industriale, ossessionato dalla sparizione della nipote, che prima di morire vuole tentare per l’ultima volta di fare chiarezza su quanto accaduto ormai molti anni prima. a fianco di mikael si muove lisbeth salander, a mio avviso il personaggio più riuscito del libro, anoressica affetta dalla sindrome di asperger e geniale hacker. da sfondo agli avvenimenti una svezia che, ovattata e rispettosa, cela però nell’intimo dei propri abitanti atteggiamenti filonazisti e psicotici. davvero un buon libro, che nonostante le dimensioni ragguardevoli, ha la capacità di non annoiare mai il lettore.   hide